Friends Matter Like Family
by Caryce Jade
Summary: Naboo falls ill with what appears to be a normal illness at first, but soon, Howard, Vince, Bollo, and Rose (OFC) have to team up to save him Naboo/OFC pairing.


**I do not own this in any way, shape, form, or fashion. **

**Because there is a **_**serious**_** dearth of Naboo whump out there in this fandom, this popped into mind. Also features caring!Vince. Rose is my creation, and is related to the Lathams of Reassembly (a Harry Potter AU that it is not really neccessary to have read to understand this), and met Naboo when she was elected to be the diplomatic liason between the wizarding world and the Board of Shamen. The two hit it off during a mission that required them to work together, and began a relationship of sorts, but that is a tale for another time. Rose is also a relative of Howard (their mothers are cousins). I know I am not telling the story "from egg to apple", to quote Robert Graves in **_**I, Claudius**_**. Instead, I start in the middle.**

Vince was sleeping soundly, which in and of itself was not unusual; he could probably sleep through a major explosion. Especially since Howard was visiting family in Leeds, and Bollo was away on some sort of weird secret mission from the Board of Shamen that required a bilingual ape to keep the diplomatic aspect of the mission from going spectacularly awry. What _was_ unusual, however was that Naboo had not yet woken him up to begin working, which worried Vince enough to wake him up.

He lay there a moment and considered the evidence at hand: while a day off would not go unappreciated, this was out of character for his shaman friend, and Naboo had retired unusually early the night before after having only picked at his dinner, irritably pleading a headache. He had only spoken to Rose for less than five minutes, rather than his customary half hour or more. Vince's single brain cell was furiously rifling through the available data. Conclusion: Naboo was under the weather. Vince frowned. How did one care for a sick shaman, if his brain cell's conclusion was correct?

He was jerked out of his musings by a thud in the hallway, followed by the faintest of whimpers. This caused Vince to be out of the bed like he had been fired from a cannon. He went out into the hallway, and was immediately worried by what he saw.

Naboo was sitting in the floor, propped up against the wall, clutching his head with one hand, his other arm wrapped around his stomach. As if this in and of itself didn't worry Vince enough, the pallor, other than the bright spots of fever on Naboo's cheeks definitely worried him. He immediately knelt down beside his friend.

"You all right, Naboo?" he asked softly, since it was obvious that Naboo had a headache.

"Do I look all right to you?" he snapped, though it lacked its usual bite and volume. At Vince's look of genuine concern, however, he admitted softly ,"No. Went to go get something for my head and got dizzy."

"You need me to help you back to bed?" Vince asked quietly. At Naboo's nod, Vince gathered him up in his arms and began to carry his friend towards his room.

About halfway there, though, Naboo suddenly said urgently, "Bathroom, now." Vince looked at him, saw the greenish tint that had taken over his friend's features, and made an immediate detour for the bathroom.

They just barely made it before Naboo was violently sick into the toilet. Vince usually didn't do sick, but he was genuinely worried about his friend, so he held his hair back with one hand, and rubbed circles into his back with the other.

Mercifully, the vomiting soon ceased, and Naboo fell back against Vince's arm. Vince reached over and flushed the toilet. "Sit tight a minute, yeah?" Vince said. He then went over to the sink and got a cup of water from the tap, as well as dampening a flannel with cool water. He came back over and helped his friend take a few cautious sips of the water, then began running the cool flannel across his forehead, his worry increasing as he noted the heat comimg off of his body.

Vince waited a few minutes, and for some color to return to Naboo's face before asking, "Do you want to try to lie down now?"

Naboo nodded, hoping the worst of whatever bug he had picked up was over. He felt weak and dizzy, but fortunately no longer extremely nauseous. He rarely was ill, even for a Xooberonian, falling ill perhaps once a year, but when he got ill, he got very ill.

Vince gently helped him up, catching him as he swayed dangerously. He carefully helped Naboo to his own room instead. "It's closer to the bathroom," Vince explained as he helped the sick shaman into the bed.

Naboo closed his eyes and fell into a fitful doze that only lasted a few minutes before he woke up and clapped a hand over his mouth, making retching noises behind it.

Vince grabbed the first thing he saw (a pail from a long-ago trip), and just barely had it in place before Naboo lost what little remaining control he had over his stomach and was sick again.

When he stopped this time, he buried his head into Vince's shoulder, whimpering softly. Within seconds, Vince realized that he was crying. Vince's heart broke for his friend. Being sick and in pain sucked, and he couldn't blame him a bit for being upset and giving in to tears. "It's all right," he soothed, setting the bucket to the side to empty after he had gotten Naboo settled. He put his arms around smaller man, rubbing his back. "I know it sucks, but you'll feel better soon. I'm gonna text Rose and have her get some ginger ale and ice lollies to maybe settle your stomach." At Naboo's mortified look, Vince said, "She's not going to think any less of you for being ill. She loves you no matter what, remember?"

Naboo nodded, the movement making him retch again, though nothing came up. Vince winced in sympathy as he grabbed his phone and tapped out a text.

**Rose. Naboo's sick. Can you bring some stuff, maybe stay with him a bit? **

_What's wrong and what do you need?_

**He's got a headache, fever, thrown up a few times.**

_Sounds like the stomach flu that's been going around the Ministry. I'll turn in my work to Percy, then I'll be over as soon as I grab some ginger ale, ice lollies, crackers and soup._

**Thanks, Rosie-Posie. You're a diamond.**

_Tell Naboo I love him, and I'll be there in about half an hour. Oh, and this bug makes everybody that has it really emotional. Take care of him._

**Will do.**

"She'll be here in about half an hour and said for me to tell you she loved you," Vince said, laying a hand on his friend's forehead, not liking the heat that met his hand. He pushed the hair away from his face, then went to clean up, get a cup of water and a flannel, then, noticing that Naboo had fallen into a fitful doze again, sat down beside the bed to wait for Rose.


End file.
